HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

147

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE INCREASED HIRING OF NURSES RESIDENT IN HAWAII AND THE DECREASED HIRING OF FOREIGN NURSES.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, during the last four years, the University of Hawaii and the Community Colleges in the State have prioritized the creation and funding of nursing schools in Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, Leeward Oahu, and Windward Oahu; and

 

     WHEREAS, this effort has materialized and yielded an abundance of nursing school graduates and registered nurses, creating an abundance of nurses to the extent that some of them, especially the new graduates, are unemployed; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result, in global financial meltdown, the State is experiencing higher levels of unemployment and consequently, decreased access to medical care; and

 

     WHEREAS, the policy of the State should be to employ its own residents and decrease government assistance to those who are unemployed; and

 

     WHEREAS, specifically, the State should employ its own residents first and decrease reliance on imported professionals; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Homeland Security is requested to close visa applications for registered nurses and terminate renewals of visa applications for working visas nurses; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and the Hawaii Nurses' Association are urged to have the hiring of nurses resident in Hawaii and the training of recent nursing school graduates in specialty nursing areas prioritized among employers of nurses; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Nurses' Association.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Nurses; Homeland Security